NJ Transit is introducing quiet train cars that will mute the commute for passengers.

The 90-day pilot program will apply to the first and last cars of Northeast Corridor express trains on the line that runs between New York Penn Station and Trenton. If the pilot program is successful, NJ Transit could expand it to its other rail lines and beyond express routes, agency spokesman Dan Stessel said.

Passengers on the library-quiet cars will be prohibited from using cell phones and must disable sound features on pagers, games, computers and other electronic devices. Conversations must be conducted in subdued voices and headphones used at a volume that cannot be heard by other passengers.

NJ Transit will be the largest transit agency in the nation and only one in the metropolitan region to offer the amenity, NJ Transit executive director Jim Weinstein said.

"It’s one of the things people ask for most often," he said. "We expect it to be very popular."

With a joking admonition of "Shhh," Weinstein today handed reporters the business cards that conductors will begin giving out to customers.

On the front is the image of a finger being held in front of a mouth. On the back, it reads: "On behalf of our customers, we ask that you lower your voices and set all electronic devices on vibrate when entering the first and last cars on our 3900 series (express) trains between Trenton and New York."

John W. Nabial Sr. of West Windsor, an accountant who commutes to New York City, likes the proposal.

"I believe the quiet car idea is a great concept, as many regular commuters want to enjoy some quiet time in their morning trips and also when returning after a long day at work," he said. "The only downside I predict is that seating on those cars will be in great demand. Perhaps, after the initial introduction, NJ Transit may need to expand the number of cars designated as quiet cars."

The quiet car concept was born about a decade ago, when early morning Amtrak commuters on the Philadelphia-to-Washington, D.C., train asked the conductor if one car could be "cell phone free." Within months, the program was expanded to most weekday Amtrak trains on the Northeast Corridor line.